Engineers have been inspecting nearly 50 earthquake-damaged buildings in Wellington, with some likely to be closed for weeks.
Several multi-storey buildings were damaged, and glass fell into streets, following the magnitude 7.5 quake centred near Hanmer. A decision on repairing or demolishing a 10-storey building on Molesworth Street could be determined today.
But given the number of quakes we get in this region, are we building the right type of buildings in the right places?
Ron Mayes is from Simpson Gumpertz and Heger. It's a San Francisco-based national engineering firm that designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures, building enclosures, and materials. Ron is also the Secretary of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and is a past Vice-President of The Masonry Society. And he was involved in the Christchurch rebuild.
Environment House, 23 Kate Sheppard place, Thorndon. Photo: Supplied
